1. Field of Art
The present invention relates generally to web-based video display and specifically to a user interface for viewing embedded video playlists.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sharing of video content on websites has developed into a worldwide phenomenon, supported by dozens of websites. On average, many thousands of videos are posted every day, and this number is increasing as the tools and opportunities for capturing video become easier to use and more widespread. Videos are typically viewed at a video hosting website such as YouTube, operated by YouTube, LLC of San Bruno, Calif. Users browsing the video hosting website can find videos of interest by, for example, searching for videos, browsing video directories, or sorting videos by ratings assigned to the videos.
Some video hosting sites allow users to create video playlists associated with a personal account on the host site. These playlists comprise a set of videos selected by a user from a video database. For example, a user may create a playlist compiling his/her favorite basketball plays, his/her favorite music videos, or his/her favorite movie clips. Conventionally, a playlist can be stored and retrieved at a later time by the account holder through the host site.
Recently, there has been an emergence of a large number of personal websites, weblogs (“blogs”), or other websites dedicated to publishing user generated content. Publishers of these websites often want to be able to embed video content directly into their web pages. In order to accommodate this need, some host sites provide publishing tools for generating an embed code that can be inserted into an external website. The embed code, when executed, causes a video from the host site to be displayed in an embedded player on the external website.
However, conventional embedded players have user interfaces that do not support or are not well adapted to handle video playlists. Furthermore, conventional publishing tools are not well suited for creating embedded players and associated playlists that are adequately customizable and simple to update. Thus, there remains a need for improved user interfaces for creating and viewing customized players and playlists that are both satisfying to the viewer and effective for meeting the goals of website publishers.